Surveillance

THE human face is a remarkable piece of work. The astonishing variety of facial features helps people recognise each other and is crucial to the formation of complex societies. So is the face’s ability to send emotional signals, whether through an involuntary blush or the artifice of a false smile.

TOURING the headquarters of Megvii in Beijing is like visiting Big Brother’s engine room. A video camera in the firm’s lobby recognises visitors in the blink of an eye. Other such devices are deployed around the office.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. I’ve just got my hands on the world’s most sought-after gadget: a pair of high-tech glasses that double as a wearable camera. A simple tap on the frame allows me to capture what I’m seeing from a first-person perspective and share it instantly with my friends on social media. I’m living in the future! This is great, isn’t it? Isn’t it?

Amazon has opened a corner store where customers can pick up their groceries and just walk out without having to queue up and pay at the checkout. The company said shoppers at its Amazon Go store will have the cost of their purchases automatically billed to their Amazon Prime account.